Nine Inch Nails New Album, "Hesitation Marks" Available on 9/3/13
 

Any other NIN fans here? Trent will be releasing a new album, "Hesitation Marks." available on 9/3/13. The single (youtube below) is titled, "Came Back Haunted." I think it's alright. Not totally thrilled, but it's not bad. If anything, it's refreshing to hear new NIN stuff in general. IMO, you can hear the Skinny Puppy influence in this song. Also kind of reminds me of what little I've heard from his "prior to NIN" band, Exotic Birds. Can't pinpoint why, exactly.


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Sounds like stuff he has already put out before. No progression.

Not sure about the skinny puppy reference.

In both of my comparisons, I can't really pinpoint why I get the vibes. No clue.

To any NIN fans who may stumble upon this thread, to be honest, I wasn't that pleased with his last two ("Year Zero" and "The Slip"..excluding "Ghosts"), which I didn't previously think was possible with NIN. Loved "With Teeth" more than some seemed to. Loved "The Fragile." Loved "The Downward Spiral." Loved their live album, "And All that Could Have Been," Loved "Pretty Hate Machine"...I don't think I've ever been more "glued" to an album than I was when I first began listening to "Pretty Hate Machine." I appreciate "Broken," but don't love it nearly as much as other NIN fans seem to...I like it, it's okay...it just rarely ever receives/received any air-time in my car. If I were to rank my fave NIN albums, in order according to my preference (excluding remixes and "Ghosts"), it'd go:

1.) Pretty Hate Machine (1989)
2.) And All That Could Have Been (Live Album) (2002)
3.) The Downward Spiral (1994)
4.) With Teeth (2005...couldn't QUITE put this above TDS, but I love it)
5.) The Fragile (1999)
6.) Year Zero (2007 Survivalism and God Given boost this above Broken for me)
7.) Broken (1992 Many NIN fans' fave...very edgy and controversial, especially with "Happiness In Slavery" video. I appreciate it. Just wasn't ever my thing).
8.) The Slip (2008...meh, I wasn't a fan. Seemed like leftovers that weren't able to make the cut on previous albums).

I'd be pleased as hell if it at least surpass "Year Zero" and work it's way to The Fragile/With Teeth/The Downward Spiral in terms of my own personal preferences. One thing that keeps me hopeful is that he has had 5 years to create new material...he usually produces higher quality when he takes his time...even though it's not like he hasn't been up to anything these past few years with his work with soundtracks and his wife's band, How to Destroy Angels.

Any other NIN fans on here? If so, any thoughts?

Trent needs to stick with film scoring because as NIN, he hasn't put out a groundbreaking (or even unique) album since The Fragile. The "band" with his wife went nowhere and his curret band has quit on him (Eric Avery and Adrian Belew have both quit his touring band in recent weeks).

It's over, Dude. Stay home, score films, bang the wife.

LMAO

It's hard to be old and "edgy".

I wonder if the Sisters will ever hit the studio again? They tour here and there, but just don't seem to write or record.

Well, he's an electronic guy so unless he continues to pump out the same thing he's done for the past 15 years, the next move to be "edgy" is Dubstep.

:Lin:

Film scoring is the greatest gig in the world and he's already a proven successful commodity. And if he can ever forget that he composed "The Fragile", maybe he can push it to the edge to film.

"The Social Network" score won him accolades and awards but it was nothing more than "The Fragile". He needs to move on, if he can.

He should hook up with Stewart Copeland.

To do what, exactly?

Reznor is an Oscar and Golden Globe winning film composer. Stewart Copeland has never won anything and hasn't scored a big budget, high profile film since the disaster that was "Highlander II" in 1991.

Plus, guys like Reznor aren't "collaborators" outside of his circle (Atticus, for example).

I just like his off-beat, organic methods.:shrug:

Wat... I mean, yeah **** her... but, Trent is a god damn wizard...
And How to Destroy Angels are prettaaah good.

You're getting too old for this kinda music.

Yeah, the music is fine. But it's not connecting with an audience.

Duuuuude

I have the How to Destroy Angels album. I wanted to like it. I gave a minimal-moderate amount of effort to like it. I just haven't been able to get past 2-3 listens with it. Never feel the urge to. Maybe it will grow on me, but I just...I dunno. Just not impressed so far, but it still has a chance to grow on me.

Year Zero had a couple of bright spots, IMO, but overall, I wasn't pleased. I couldn't get into the "concept" of the album. It just struck me as kind of pretentious.

The Slip, blech. A bunch of leftovers, I swear.

"Ghosts" was relatively decent and was an interesting change in direction for NIN. I don't mind putting it on as "background" music for when I am around the house engaging in various household tasks. I've put it in and fallen asleep to it. That is nice. It's just nothing I'll put in to jam out to.

If I force myself to be honest with myself, I agree with the over-whelming majority of what Dane wrote. I'd say where my opinion of NIN differs from Dane (and most critics/some NIN fans) the most is that he hasn't produced anything unique since "The Fragile." I loved "With Teeth." Loved the tour as well. I'll admit that it wasn't groundbreaking...The album was relatively successful, but didn't make that big of a splash. I did think the album had it's unique moments though. My favorite songs on the album were ones that didn't become hits. Were and still are and always be pretty obscure. I absolutely loved, "All the Love in the World," "Beside You in Time," "Right Where it Belongs," "The Line Begins to Blur," "Sunspots" and "You Know What You Are?" I liked them better than the hits from that album; "Only," "The Hand that Feeds" and "Every Day is Exactly the Same." I dunno, I know a lot of people who are probably more credible of a source than me were not satisfied with it. And heck, I may be blissfully unaware as to how not unique it actually is. FWIW, it was/is unique to me, though.

I am HOPING, HOPING, HOPING for this album to take me back to how NIN used to make me feel when I initially purchased the album. Haven't been real "euphoric" about purchasing a new album since "With Teeth." I do realize the "HOPING, HOPING, HOPING" side of me is influenced by my inner NIN-homer, true-fan side. :)

Yup. And I believe a large part of this can be due to the fact that he has some severe social anxiety issues that he can't kick. I watched this interview with a couple of members from the band, Ministry, and they talked about how they visited him at his house or something. Anyways, they were clowning on Trent in the interview, basically making fun of how socially anxious and awkward he was.

Not a real social guy. I couldn't believe it when he went through that twitter phase. Was even more thrown off by how willing he was to let himself come off like a total douche-canoe on it.

Trent doesn't have a social anxiety disorder. He's a talented guy that had too much fame too quickly, used it up (and believe me, he used it up), tried to come back to earth, couldn't, then cut off everyone

When he married his current wife, it was a shock to everyone around him, even his closest and oldest friends. He wanted to jump start her career, got bored, then started scoring film and now he's back to NIN.

He's a very talented guy but can't figure out where to put his energy. But the bottom line is that his music has grown stale and his audience is bored.

And judging by the recent defections of his current touring band, so is everyone around him.

Me being a NIN fanatic, that is EXTREMELY interesting to me. Not implying that I am doubting you, just saying, that is genuinely, extremely interesting stuff....so many NIN fans are either in the dark or just kind of believe the folklore that has been associated with him.

Speaking of his wife. My gosh, when he married her, there were some ROYALLY butt-hurt goth chicks. I'm not even joking when I say that he probably lost some female fans when he married her. I mean, I'm not saying the loss was anything substantial...but the butt-hurt was definitely noticeable. A lot of NIN female fans literally seemed inclined to believe that they stood a chance. No joke. His females fans are insecure, delusional and obsessive.

If he were to change things up a bit and possibly figure things out in terms of the path he needs to be on, do you think he will ever produce any solo stuff in the future? I know the ol' "Pretty Hate Machine," "Nine Inch Nails is Trent Reznor," so yeah, people already make the argument that NIN IS his solo act...which is, I'm assuming, false?

If it is indeed false, what path do you think he would take? Do you think he would continue down the electronic path? Piano stuff?

Dude, I know FAR MORE than I should about his "situation". I actually know far more than I'd ever like to know about his sitch.

I was (emphasis on "was") a fan of him, musically, after the release of "The Fragile". I learned far too much about his personal life, IMO, through various friends and such shortly thereafter (and pretty much, right up until today).

Some things are better left to the imagination and to the "ether".

I agree. Say no more about that stuff. :)

All I can provide is conjecture. But at this point, Trent is hired to be Trent. If his audience continues to wane, he'll have no other "choice" (and believe me, it's the most awesome choice of all) to score film and maybe eventually, TV.

But a horse is a horse is a horse. His sensibilities are his and that's why he's been hired to score. I'm sure he's "capable" of more but will anyone let him go there?

That's the $4 million dollar question.

hell, PM ME DEETS! you know I dig that shit. shit, you still owe me some michael jackson stories too, ya bastard.

:thumb:

Oh how I love being stuck in friggy-diggy-sheltered rural Iowa. :) This is some interesting shit.

Someday, I'll PM you and Ebola and so many others, when time permits.

I used to be able to share so much on this site back in the mid-2000's because it wasn't as populated and essentially, no one knew my identity. But now, it's very different.

I have to catch myself now and again, even in real life. I said some not-so-flattering things about Damon Lindelof at a lunch recently, only to bite my tongue after I said it (the people I was with work at Warner's).

Since I do work in this business, I have to be careful, even when "anonymous" on this site. I can share to a point but that's pretty much it (and I've had to edit comments the next day too many times to count).

It's cool. Don't feel pressured to share anything that exceeds your comfort zone, for if it's one thing I understand, it's feeling as if you inadvertently said to much to the wrong individual and/or group of people. If I were in your situation (which sounds like an important one in terms of the entertainment industry), I would probably have to bite my tongue frequently because if it's one thing you've probably noticed about me, it's that I have a tendency to get on huge kicks, sometimes structure it well, and sometimes ramble/over-exert myself and inadvertently say too much in the process without realizing it until afterwards. Stay in your comfort zone, dude...I respect that. Extremely interesting shit, though.

thanks for the heads up. Not a fan of the new single though. Hope the rest of the album is better.

Anyone else a fan of The Social Network soundtrack? Trent did the score and nailed it out of the park imo

It's nothing that I would buy and actually play in my car as I have Requiem for a Dream's soundtrack composed by Clint Mansell, performed by Kronos Quartet, but I thought it was awesome to listen to while watching the movie.

Trent Reznor is now on the same level as Marilyn Manson to me. Huge fan of their music throughout my life.....but it's gotten to the point now where I WANT to like their stuff.....but it's ****ing hard. Like Dane said.....he should stick to composing.....he's awesome at that.

I've been a NIN fan since 7th or 8th grade when I first heard Pretty Hate Machine. Like many others, I wasn't exactly blown away by the last several releases before the hiatus, but it was still NIN and I still went to the live shows.

Now it's probably my fault, but I totally bought into all the hype over the last few months about how Trent was taking NIN in an entirely new direction. While everyone likes to talk about The Social Network, I was privately hoping for something a little more ambient and atmospheric like his work on Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Add in the Belew factor (if you've never seen the Talking Heads live in Rome, do it now. It's on YouTube in its entirety) and I was properly excited.

Then this week happened. Damn it! Suffice it to say, my expectations have been tempered. The new single isn't terrible, it just isn't great either, and it certainly doesn't differentiate itself from latter day NIN. I'm not panicking yet, even The Fragile had Star****ers. However, if this is the lead single, I'm not exactly filled with hope.

As an aside: Dane, with your inside knowledge, any idea why Tapeworm never happened? I've always assumed it was a case of too many chiefs and not enough indians, but Maynard seemed to genuinely like the material considering the APC and Puscifer versions of Tapeworm songs.

I've wondered that myself. I've heard so many varying rumors regarding Tapeworm.

I haven't lost hope completely, yet. In most NIN albums, a few of the songs that don't become hits end up being my faves.

Geez, you just can't trust a guy when he says he's on his farewell tour.

I loved NIN back in the day, but just stay retired dude.

Huge Nails fan, probably my favorite band but not sure...its almost impossible to pick an all time favorite. Back in high school (93-97) I had about 10 different NIN shirts that I wore damn near every day...yeah I was "that guy". Cant wait for this new album, and couldnt disagree with Dane more...With Teeth and The Slip were ****ing great.

With Teeth is way better than The Fragile...though I still like it too. Some of the best NIN songs ever...

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"All the Love in the World" is one of my favorite songs of all time.

I had like 5 NIN shirts...and people always looked at me funny as if it didn't make any sense or if they thought I was being sarcastic because I was a jock/captain of the wrestling team my Junior and Senior year. I didn't give a shit what they thought about it...they obviously hadn't listened to or given NIN a chance.

You misunderstood my posts. I didn't say that his records after The Fragile were "bad" in any way, shape or form. I said that he didn't break any new ground or offer anything different than he did with The Fragile.

With Teeth, Year Zero, etc. were just a collection of songs. Maybe you like those songs better than the songs on The Fragile. But the bottom line is that all of those records were just an extension of what he initially created for The Fragile back in 1997/1998.

That's a matter of opinion. What's not a matter of opinion is that fact that Reznor's music, lyrical perspective, production techniques and overall sound and vibe haven't changed a bit since the release of The Fragile.

He has not grown as an artist, which was my original point.

So what? If its not broke don't fix it. Im glad he hasn't changed.

Metallica "grew" as artists and suck complete ass now compared to everything before the black album.

And this is exactly why his album sales continue to decline, his band members continue to quit, etc.

It's played out.

So, Metallica is your only example? How about The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, The Police, Sting, Yes, Black Sabbath, Rush, Aerosmith, Van Halen, let alone artists like Dave Grohl and the Foo's, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Heart, Deep Purple and on and on and on.

All of those bands and artists became better at their trade, improved their songwriting and production and most importantly, grew as artists.

I'm happy that you like NIN. That's great! But it's ridiculous to argue that Trent Reznor has gone beyond what he initially started more than 15 years ago.

hey dano,

any word on if rage against the machine will EVER do another album? there have been whispers for years, but it seems everybody is busy doing their own thing.

Sadly, as a reflection of where I'm at with NIN currently, I just purchased tickets for the Sigur Ros show which happens to be on the same night. Oh well, I've seen NIN numerous times anyway.

And just because I'm curious, I'll repeat myself:

My apologies: I missed your initial post.

Some of my good friends were just out with Danny and Maynard for a B-day celebration last week. I'm hooking up with one of the guys I the next week or so and I'll inquire.

The Beatles - Old stuff was better.

The Rolling Stones - Can't comment, never cared for more than a few songs.

The Who - Old stuff was better.

Led Zeppelin - Old stuff was better.

The Eagles - ****ing suck, don't care.

The Police - Old stuff was better.

Yes - Seriously?

Black Sabbath - Ozzie was way better than Dio.

Rush - Who cares

Van Halen - DLR was 1000 X's better than Hagar.

Nirvana 1000 X's better than Foo Fighters

STP - Old stuff was better.

Soundgarden - Old stuff was better.

Heart - Who cares

Deep Purple - Old stuff was better.

Your examples suck ass.

You know, I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt because this is an entirely different topic and forum. But there's just no denying that you're a goddamned moron.

Good luck with that.

Thanks, I've always been curious.

Eight year-olds dude

You're not funny. You're just an idiot.

It's not surprising that someone of your extremely limited intellect can't understand the difference between the growth of an artist versus selling out to the fans in order to continue to earn money.

Not surprising at all. Oh, and way to dumb down a great thread.

I would doubt that if it happens, it happens anytime soon. The "band" (Brad, Timmy and Tom) all get along really well and are great friends. Zach is an "outsider" and prone to do his own thing.

I probably shouldn't share this but at two different times in my life, I shared a space with the Rage guys. They were all great dudes and were a blast to watch in a small room. But that said, I never met or saw Zach even once. The band would rehearse all the time, write new songs, etc. but Zach was never around.

That's not too uncommon, because singers are the last ingredient to a band and there's no reason why a singer should blow out his voice while the band is rehearsing and preparing for the studio or the road. But I *never* saw Zach, which I always thought was odd.

And you're a know it all douche. Almost every band I like I prefer their first 2-3 albums. And almost every example you gave was stupid. Is STP more popular now than when they first hit the scene? Is Soungarden? Do you think FF were ever as popular as Nirvana? Did Sabbath sell more Ozzy albums or Dio albums? Did VH sell more albums with DLR or Hagar?

Just because a band changes (or "grows" to you) it doesn't mean they're better, and more often than not they're never as good. My favorite NIN album is still Pretty Hate Machine, but they've had a lot of good ones since then. If they would have tried to dramatically change their sound they would have lost all of their fans and flopped big time.

I prefer the early work to the hippie-era.

Anything that classic rock radio has repeatedly shoved down your gullet, throw right to the curb; the Stones have a very good body of work outside of that shit.

See above. Exact same scenario


I thought it was all "old stuff"? Unless you count the Page and Plant-thing.

Yeah, those mother****ers aren't on the playlist and haven't been since I was like...10.
I like the whole body of original Police work.

LMAO

To me, Sabbath is about what Iommi is doing. Yeah, the classic stuff is legendary, but I've heard some good "no Ozzy" cuts too. "Zero the Hero" comes to mind.

Being beat to death with Rush is nevar a pleasant experience. That said, it's always a good concert and sounds phenominal.

But...but...GARY CHERONE! LMAO Yeah, No Dave = GTFO, please...

I saw Nirvana open for 24/7 Spyz at the Outhouse in 1989. They were touring as a four piece at the time, and I remeber Novaselic trying to crack jokes with the audience before their set, and just getting raped CP-style as a result. They did a good set, and I still prefer "Bleach" over the rest of their shit. The Fighters are the closet thing to this "evolving band" concept Dane speaks of that I can relate to. They've been involved in working with some very diverse artists, and more importantly; making it work.

I respect the DeLeo brothers as musicians, but aside from a song or two; meh.

Sweet Jesus yes. I'm sorry; did Soungarden record an album after "Louder Than Love"? None that I care to hear, thx!

I'm not taking a stance on this.

"Highway Star/Space Trucking"

Next band please!

that's all in line with what I've heard over the years. zack contributed to what 'made' rage rage, but... he always had his mind on different things really. too bad, really, and I get the feeling that his passion really lies in the other areas of 'activism' that he's into.

too bad it didn't work out with audioslave... loved the direction they were going toward, but oh well.

I really liked the first Audioslave record but it was destined to fail because once again, there were two factions: "The Band" and "The Singer".

"The Band" severely compromised after the first record. They went for more of Cornell's "singer/songwriter" approach, which is why you hear less "riff" oriented tracks and more "songs". They also went with Brendan O'Brien as a producer, one of Cornell's friends.

By the third album, it was nearly all Cornell. The band would be in one room jamming out killer, funky riffs and while Cornell was in another room working out songs on his acoustic guitar.

I'm sure you can tell by the album who won out.

:shake:

And once again, you misunderstand the word "Artist". Contrary to your beliefs, bands, especially those with artistic band members, prefer to do what they want with their music as opposed to chasing after their fans.

Is this a trick question? Foo Fighters have sold tens of millions more records than Nirvana. Nirvana's second record only sold two million copies. Did Nirvana ever sell out Wembly night after night?

Regardless, it's not about selling records: It's about expressing yourself and growing as an artist. You don't seem to even understand that simple concept.

Who cares?

That's because you're a simpleton that would rather have his favorite bands remain static rather than grow and change.

Again, who cares?

Album being released tomorrow. The reviews I've read from sources who have already heard it seem to suggest that this album is the best NIN stuff since The Fragile and/or The Downward Spiral. I'm interested/excited about it.

Ive had it about a week, haven't had a chance to listen to it much but what Ive heard is really good.

Trent Reznor speaks on value of music: “It costs 10 bucks, or go **** yourself.”

http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/0...****-yourself/


“Nine Inch Nails feels bigger than it ever has… Is it because we’re on Columbia? Is it scarcity? I don’t know, but it doesn’t feel bigger in the sense that we’ve desperately adopted some new clothing style. It feels organic, and it feels good not to be worrying about whether or not we shipped vinyl to the cool record store in Prague. I know that what we’re doing flies in the face of the Kickstarter Amanda-Palmer-Start-a-Revolution thing, which is fine for her, but I’m not super-comfortable with the idea of Ziggy Stardust shaking his cup for scraps. I’m not saying offering things for free or pay-what-you-can is wrong. I’m saying my personal feeling is that my album’s not a dime. It’s not a buck. I made it as well as I could, and it costs 10 bucks, or go **** yourself.”

I made it about ten seconds into that. That guy got so full of himself. They were nuts live in the Pretty Hate Machine days.

What are your thoughts on that, Dane? I'd give my own if I weren't drawing such mental blanks lately, so my thinking may need to be sparked on this one.

And that is one of my favorite albums I liked Broken and Fixed, but the rest got bad.

You didn't like The Fragile or The Downward Spiral? I thought there were some hidden gems on With Teeth, but I can understand why people aren't fans of that one. I'm not much of a fan of Year Zero (with an exception of a couple songs), haven't really given Ghosts the time yet and really didn't care for The Slip. I pre-ordered it on Itunes and my shit is downloading it right now...heard it is very Pretty Hate Machine-ish.

I liked NIN back in the day -- it broke sonic ground. But the direction TR went was not so interesting to me -- not to say it was bad, just didn't inspire hitting the "buy" button imo.

this new works seems to capture NIN sentiment -- within NIN confines it feels new, I'm just in a different place now as opposed to the eighties. I'll listen to it curiously and see if it finds it's way into my collection.

That's a pretty cool way of approaching it...I'll try to do the same.

I jerk off at least a couple times a week, and pirate music, movies, video games etc. regularly. Dont like it? Eat a dick.

NIN is actually one of those bands where they haven't really put out a bad CD to me. There have been a couple where it takes me a couple of listens to truly appreciate it....but I still end up liking the entire thing.

Me too for the most part (especially when compared to other shit out there that's being spewed). I admit, I didn't care much for The Slip...and Year Zero wasn't my favorite, but I still liked it more than 90% of the other shit I find.

Piracy? It's destroyed the music business. No one sells albums and very, very very few actually earn enough to eek out a living, unless you're a Disney kid or a TV show talent winner (and that's short lived).

Labels aren't signing and developing talent over the age of 21. Labels are earning money on catalog re-releases. It's a gigantic mess and unfortunately, it isn't going away.

A good record costs a lot of money to create. There are studio costs, gear rentals, producer and engineer fees, maintenance, tech's, etc. and so on. Even these days, a "real" record still costs $250-300k to produce, if you're using Top-Line talent. That's a lot of album sales these days at $9.99 in order for the Artist and label to recoup, and that's before any profit.

Illegal downloading will only diminish NIN-type releases because no one wants to work for free.

Interesting. I've never given much thought about several of those points. Thanks for the feedback, Dane.

Thanks for your insight.

What's your opinion of the proposition that starving (or otherwise distressed) artists make the best art, generally speaking? It seems like a lot of rock artists do their best work on their first record or two and fall off after that. No doubt they become better musicians as their career progresses, but I'm not sure whether or not most of them make better music.

This is an incredibly difficult question to answer, as there are so many variables. I could probably write a ten page essay in an attempt to cover this topic.

I don't think that money affects artistic output nor does it affect the ability to create.

But briefly speaking, I think there are two different types of scenarios in play here:

1. Brand new band has an huge debut record and poor follow up
2. Brand new band has a quiet debut, finds an audience and continues to ascend and create great album after great album.

In scenario one, it's most likely that the artist or band has a lifetime of songs written for their debut. That debut connects with an audience and sells millions of records, gaining fans and putting pressure on the artist or band to create a similar followup, generally within a year. What happens then is that the Artist/Band will often feel that pressure and not respond well to it, which negatively affects their songwriting, performance and album sales.

It's difficult to create even one hit single, let alone 20 years worth of hit singles.

In scenario two, the Band/Artist creates music that connects with an audience but doesn't feel the pressure to replicate prior success. That Band/Artist grows creatively, whether it's song structure, harmonies, arrangements and so on. "Staying True" creatively can lead to a long and fruitful career but even then, people tend to get burned out working with each other.

Keep in mind, it's also about the "driver" of the Artist/Band. Is it a collaborative effort, like The Beatles or Eagles or Aerosmith, Van Halen or Rolling Stones? Or does it rely on one person, like The Who and Pete Townsend, Tom Scholtz and Boston, Danny Elfman and Oingo Boingo, etc.?

There are just so many unique factors at play that it's really difficult to say with a broad stroke but I do not believe that "starving" equates to better art.

I think I'll go **** myself, thx!

Picked it up on my lunch hour today. $7.99 at Target.

I'll give it a listen while I'm working.

I've gone through about 75% of it. So far, I like it, but I can tell that it may take a few listens before I like it as much as I ultimately end up liking it.

In terms of instrumentation, this album seems to be the least aggressive. Fine with me. Haven't totally "lost" myself with any of the songs after first listen.

I'm with the Dane/Pestilence/etc faction that says he's gotten stale.

Came Back Haunted did nothing for me, i've been a huge fan of his over the years but...

With Teeth was weak as well.

To me, its weird for a guy who's so successful and from what i've read in a "good spot" in his life (happily married, spends a lot of time with his kids)... to pull off material for an album called "Hesitation Marks".

He's not the same angry kid he used to be, it happens to pretty much every rock artist... the well of originality eventually runs dry.

9 tracks in.....and not bad so far. It's kind of a mix between Ghosts and Year Zero to me.

Keep in mind that in his very first film scoring attempt, he won an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Winning is amazing enough but his first film?

Musically, he's as creative as ever, if not moreso. Lyrically however, the well has run dry. He just doesn't have anything new to say, which happens. There are very few people that can crank out amazing tracks period, let alone for three decades.

I know that he enjoys the "Live" aspect of NIN, which is why he put together a new record (didn't want to be seen as an "oldie" tour) but his best work lie ahead in film.

I totally see what you're saying, and agree with all you said earlier about "hungry" not being the alpha and omega of creativity... a great example would 1984 from Van Halen, they were kings of the world at that point, yet it was their absolute masterpiece at the end of the bands original trajectory.

But with a NIN... its just hard to see maintaining the same level of creative originality with a band with a brand like that, when you're as accomplished and as rich as Reznor... its hard to see him making any "Hesitation Marks" on his arms.

Like you say, he needs to continue with film scoring... let NIN die a legendary death instead of going out on less than the past.

I "hesitate" to **** myself; is this a by-product of the album?

Listened to the album on my drive today.

Overall, it's pretty ok for me. Didn't absolutely love it or hate it the first time through. I'll report back after I give it three or four more listens. Lyrically underwhelming, but I more or less expected that when I heard the single a couple of months ago.

Here's what it really comes down to:

Trent Reznor is Trent Reznor. After 20+ years, he's not going to "surprise" you anymore. There are no more tricks, no more angst, no more aggression and no more attitude that he can convey in 2013 that he couldn't convey in the early 90's.

So, it's just a matter of "Do you like the songs?".

At this point, two decades in, he's like Tom Petty or Pearl Jam or any number of artists whose careers have spanned decades. Either you connect with the new music or you don't. It's really as simple as that.

If you don't, at least you have a lifetime of memories from his earlier music.

Right on. Exactly the thinking I've had listening to pearl jam since No Code. After an album or two, bands are no longer young and angry....they mature. It is what it is.

Yeah....Reznor is like Manson for me. Loved both of their music when I was growing up but now I just listen to them because of who they are. There is no more anger or hate in their music. That shit has passed them by.

The one thing that Reznor has over Manson is that Trent does some awesome soundtrack work.

Dane really nailing it in this thread.

If I had a nickel for every time Trent has used the word, "disappear" in his songs since With Teeth, I'd have like $5. And I could use that $5 right now.